Wickenburg’s Rancho de los Caballeros steers groups in an authentic direction, along with a herd of cattle or three.
While Phoenix may be flexing its urban muscle and Scottsdale will always be known as a premier resort and golf destination, groups with a hankering for some old-school Arizona—with all the comforts of modernity and an award-winning 18-hole golf course—can mosey about 55 miles northwest of Phoenix to Rancho de Los Caballeros.
"We’re in wide-open space up here, away from the city," says Rui Pereira, general manager of the ranch resort, which sits on 20,000 acres of Sonoran desert. "We offer everything from golf to ATV rides and Jeep tours, and we have a wonderful spa that we opened five years ago, offering many Southwestern-style treatments."
Besides activities such as hiking, ATV-riding or bird-watching on Rancho de los Caballeros’ impressive spread, many groups take advantage of the property’s Old West-style team-building options, one of which has attendees rounding up cattle.
"[A popular team-building program is] team penning, which is on horseback," Pereira says. "We build a small arena inside a large arena, and teams of five riders are tasked with corralling three cows into a pen. After doing that a few times, we do a fast round in which an announcer selects a cow to be penned."
And even if the group has beginning riders, there’s no reason to fear, according to Pereira.
"It’s all in a controlled environment, and if they’ve never been on a horse before, we give them basic lessons," he says. "There’s very little room for any accidents because it’s all controlled.
Of course, when you have 20,000 acres to work with, team-building options are as vast as the Sonoran Desert.
"We do scavenger hunts in which teams of five to eight go around the ranch to look for historical markers and hidden items," Pereira says. "It’s usually pretty funny to watch all these grown men and grown women scrambling around to find all of these prizes."
The resort can set up awards ceremonies for various team-building programs to recognize the top performers, and the ideal group size ranges anywhere from 20 to 120 participants.
Other team-focused activities include golf tournaments, trap and skeet shooting, horseback riding—the expanse of the ranch is so large that Pereira says riders can take off in a different direction every day—and wandering a labyrinth.
Of course, engaging in all of these activities can work up an appetite, so the ranch offers a hearty, and diverse, range of menu selections and both custom group and regularly scheduled Saturday evening cookouts. Because Rancho de Los Caballeros is a Full American Plan resort, all meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) are included in the rate.
"We try to appeal to everyone’s tastes, so our menus rotate every night," Pereira points out. "We have different appetizers and entrees, and breakfast and lunch are buffet-style.
"In springtime we also do a lunch cookout," he continues, "and for dinner cookouts we have a cowboy balladeer come in and sing ballads."
And even though attendees have an Old Arizona experience at Rancho de los Caballeros, Pereira says that the property is a relatively best-kept secret locally.
"Rancho de los Caballeros is a place that a lot of Arizonans don’t even know about," he says.
For More Info:
Rancho de los Caballeros
1551 S. Vulture Mine Road
Wickenburg, AZ 85390
Toll Free: 800.684.5030
Fax: 928.684.9565
home@sunc.com
